1 Fexz., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 107 
TOBACCO. 
CIGAR LEAF-CURING BARN. 
‘Tre style of tobacco barn generally adopted in Florida corresponds closely to 
that of Ouba, being wide and Jow rather than high and narrow, as in the 
Northern States. It should run from north to south the long way. Of what- 
-ever length it is built, take half the length minus 1 foot for the breadth, and 
swith these dimensions a well-shaped barn will be constructed. For instance, 
‘a barn 20 feet ‘long would be 9 feet wide. ‘Two-thirds of the width is 
taken for the length of the rafters. A thatched barn in Cuba would add 
1 foot to the above length in order to make a steeper pitch to give the rainfall 
more rapid descent. The posts are to be 12 feet from the ground to the 
eaves. 
A house of these dimensions is to be divided into sections, allowing a 
‘space of 27 inches between each two sections, so that a man may easily get in 
to put up or bring down the poles. The same space, 27 inches, should be left . 
at each end, between the wall and the pole racks, to afford the same facility. 
A passage 3 feet in width should be left, dividing the barn into two equal 
parts; and each half will ‘have four sections in each side of the passage. 
There will thus be eight sections, and each of these will have an area of 4 - ° 
square yards. The apartments are formed by posts. 
The poles for a barn of the foregoing description must be at least 13 feet 
long. ; 
eThe poles filled with tobacco are placed on strong rails of the length of the 
sections, nailed horizontally on ‘the posts which form the sections—namely, 
about 8 feet, so that the tips of the leaves of one rack ‘shall not touch those 
next below. , This is for the tobacco eut up Cuban fashion, in saddles of two 
leaves, while for primed tobacco the interval maybe shorter, as the leaves do _ 
not hang down a yard. 
A window or ventilator must be left at the top of eack gable, and all 
around the ends and sides the windows or shutters should not be over 5 or 6 
feet apart, and hinged at the top so that the bottom can be slightly swung out 
to admit the air without permitting the sunshine to enter. In a damp locality 
the siding and ventilators should be well tight to exclude the moisture when it 
is excessive.—Southern Tobacco Journal. 
TOBACCO BNDER COVER. 
In Florida, which is so largely occupied in the production of luxuries, 
nothing is neglected by enterprising growers which will improve the quality of 
their products. There is no other country in the world where the fertilising 
.of oranges and pineapples for flavour, of strawberries and tomatoes for appear- 
cance, flavour, and carrying qualities, and of tobacco for flavour, texture, and burn, 
is:carried on to a higher pitch of development than in Florida. Now comes 
+he culture of tobacco under cover, as a means of producing an extra silky 
texture and a highly burnished surface for cigar wrappers. 
A prominent firm of Quincy, Gadsden county, experimented with this 
method for three years, beginning with a half-acre; and the result was so 
satisfactory that last spring they had over 100 acres under cover, partly 
‘belonging to tenants for whom they erected the shedding under agreement to 
purchase the tobacco of a certain grade at a uniform price of 27 cents per lb., 
pole cured. The roofing is constructed of cypress lath and wire, the lath so spaced 
as to furnish a half-shade, placed on posts 7 feet above the ground, thus per- 
initting cultivation underneath, and costing about 225 dollars an acre. It is 
calculated to last five years, though the orange and pineapple growers figure.a 
anuch longer life for their sheds, similarly though better constructed. 
